What do you know about the 2020 Census?  Tune in to FEDtalk this Friday, April 5 for a comprehensive discussion of the mission, planning, and execution of next year's big count.

Most Civilian Federal Employees own smart phones loaded with apps designed to add value to their daily lives. For those looking for guidance on government information and services, there are a variety of mobile apps sponsored by the Federal government which provide relevant and accurate information.

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that cell phones are not tracking devices for the purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 3117. The First Circuit also held that the good-faith exception applies to a warrant issued in violation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Alaska State Troopers Alaska Bureau of Investigation Special Crimes Investigation Unit and Technical Crimes Unit, among other agencies, have indicted 18 members and associates of the white supremacist gang called the 1488s. Charges are related to their alleged roles in a racketeering enterprise involving narcotics distribution, firearms trafficking, and acts of violence including murder, assault, and kidnapping.

“In the past few years, law enforcement professionals have seen an unprecedented number of lawsuits and investigations resulting from job duties.”(1)

 FLEOA files suit against OPM for reinterpretation of FERS statute. Read the full statement.

A North Carolina resident was arrested this week after a grand jury indicted the resident for one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and 14 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a fraudulent tax return. This arrest comes days after another North Carolina resident was sentenced to a year in prison for assisting in the filing of false tax returns.

Key Data about the Profession

It's that time of year again--tax season.  Tune in to FEDtalk this Friday at 11 am ET for a discussion on the most important things for federal employees and members of the public to know when filing their taxes.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced the arrests of dozens of individuals involved in a “nationwide conspiracy that facilitated cheating on college entrance exams and the admission of students to elite universities.” Athletic coaches, parents, and exam administrators have been charged.

On March 1, 2019, the Federal Labor Relations Authority issued a press release stating that it was inviting amici curiae briefs on an issue in U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Michael E. DeBakey Medical Center, Houston, Texas, and American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Local 1633, Case No. 0-AR-5354. The issue involves whether the Federal Labor Relations Authority should reconsider relying on the factors in Allen v. U.S. Postal Service, 2 M.S.P.R. 420 (1980), when considering awards of attorney’s fees.

It was early morning on October 12, 2000, when I received word from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) anti-terrorism alert center that there had been an accident off the coast of Aden, Yemen, involving a Navy ship, the USS Cole. I was the director of NCIS at the time.

Rocky Mountain National Park Rangers and Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers have been working on several cases relating to illegal elk poaching. While some of these efforts have led to the arrests in recent weeks, Rocky Mountain National Park Rangers continue to request information on poaching in their park.

“Absolute consistency of belief is not a prerequisite to proving predisposition” to overcome an entrapment defense, the Fourth Circuit recently held in a case involving a former law enforcement officer who supported militant Islamism, Nazism, and white supremacy.

In the wake of the partial government shutdown, financial planning has been on the minds of federal employees everywhere.  Tune in to FEDtalk this Friday at 11 am EST for a discussion on financial planning pre- and post-retirement.

WAEPA (Worldwide Assurance for Employees of Public Agencies), a nonprofit Voluntary Employee Benefits Association which offers Group Term Life Insurance* exclusively to Civilian Federal Employees, made headlines in January when they announced they were waiving January’s premiums for all their members, including those for Members not impacted by the partial Government Shutdown, which went on for 35 days from December 21, 2018 to January 25, 2019, and affected approximately 22% of Federal workers.

The Medicare Fraud Strike Force has successfully dismantled Medicare fraud schemes in Florida and Mississippi. Special agents in the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS OIG) and Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal investigations division have teamed up with agencies across the federal law enforcement community to investigate and uncover Medicare fraud schemes.

When asked about the exhibits in the National Law Enforcement Museum, something I like to talk about that tends to surprise people is the wide variety of jobs that exist within the law enforcement profession.

A joint venture by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the Department of Justice has resulted in the arrest of a Coast Guard Lieutenant for domestic terrorism. According to the court documents, the lieutenant, Christopher Paul Hasson, harbored extremist views and was planning “to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.”

Retired federal law enforcement officers are entitled to the same state tax benefits as “similarly situated” retired state law enforcement officers, the U.S. Supreme Court held this week.